


We Are the Half-Bloods

by laurbar2000



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: A lot of References..., Alternate Universe - High School, Friendship, Goode High School, Love, Private School, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-19
Updated: 2014-06-19
Packaged: 2018-02-05 06:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1808665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurbar2000/pseuds/laurbar2000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy's 1st day of Goode High School doesn't suck as much as he had thought it would.<br/>Surprisingly, he becomes friends with Grover Underwood and his little 'gang' of friends; Tyson (the MASSIVELY HUGE guy who, for some reason, has a thing for Cyclopes...), Ella (some girl who likes mythological creatures just as much as Tyson), Rachel Elizabeth Dare (or, as Percy likes to call her, Red), and Frank Zhang (that totally awkward kid who has a crush on Nico di Angelo's shy sister, Hazel). They're a very strange band of friends, all lame geeks, but somehow Percy finds himself in the happiest year of his life with them.<br/>But, then again, the first day DID suck. Minimally. Because that was the day he ran into Annabeth FREAKING Chase and her best friend Luke I'm-so-oblivious-to-Annabeth-liking-me Castellan.<br/>It's not Percy's fault he embarrasses himself around Annabeth so much... It's not like he WANTED the first words she said to him to be "You drool when you sleep."<br/>Yet, somehow, Percy gets in the middle of the most fun, entertaining (and slightly dangerous) year of his life when he becomes an enemy to Luke. And trying to pass through the eleventh grade is hard enough with Annabeth being forced to tutor him!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting the Gang

"Okay, look," Percy said, tossing the orange tie down on the bed. "I didn't want to be here. If you're making this up as some sort of a sick joke, I suggest that you drop what you're doing right now and get out of my bedroom before it's too late."  
Sally Jackson faced her son, scowling. "Percy," she said, her voice stern. "You are wearing the tie."  
"I am not going to wear the tie!" he protested. "I'll look like an idiot! What kind of a guy wears a TIE to school? Assholes, that's who."  
"Perseus Jackson, you watch your language!"  
Percy shook his head, frowning at his mother. "I'm not wearing the tie. If I do, it'll get me killed in painful, nasty ways."  
"Stop being so dramatic! It's a school uniform, Percy! You are GOING to wear the tie."  
"I am not."  
"Yes. You are."  
"No. I'm not."  
"Yes! You are!"  
"No! I am NOT!"  
"... I'll make you pancakes."  
"... What kind?"  
"Blue. Duh. Since when do I NOT make blue pancakes when you're being a baby?"  
"Ugh, fine."  
And that's how the first day of the eleventh grade started for Percy Jackson. 

The day was supposed to be simple. Percy sat at the stool in the living room, feeling thankful his stepfather wasn't awake yet. He tried rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and felt completely uncomfortable with the tie. He felt like there was a noose around his neck. He could just picture his stepdad being totally on board with tightening that noose idea, all right...  
"Percy?" Sally asked, walking over to him. "Gimme your plate." She held out the pan with a large blue pancake with blue chocolate chips-Percy didn't actually know how she pulled off the chocolate chip thing, but he wasn't prepared to complain or ask questions. Sally tossed down the light blue pancake onto his plate as he smiled. "Eat up, hon," she said. "Big day."  
"You can't just say 'big day' on my first day of school, Mom," Percy complained, pulling up his fork and knife, preparing to do exactly as she'd suggested. "It's a cliche."  
"Well, look who's so 'cool,'" Sally teased. She walked back over to the stove and sighed. "I mean it when I say this, Percy, you should let yourself indulge in some cliches." She turned around and smirked at him. "Have a young love, pull a bunch of pranks, go ride yourself into a tunnel and talk about infinity-Oh! Or you can try out for a sport or a club, and you could become emotionally attached to something that helps you through life in the end!"  
Percy stared at Sally, fairly confused (and slightly horrified) at this. "Uh... Mom? Don't-"  
"I will never say that again," she agreed, sighing. She shook her head. "Sorry. Thought I should give it a shot. It didn't work."  
"Yeah," he said. "I realized."  
She laughed, that soft, gentle laugh that made him smile. "Percy, I love you so much."  
He rolled his eyes and grumbled, "I love you too, Mom."  
Sally started to smile affectionately, but suddenly a voice cut them both off. "Sally!" Gabe called out from the living room. "Get in here and help me!"  
Percy scowled, completely forgetting the warm feeling and the blue pancakes. "Don't-!"  
"Percy, please," Sally said, sighing. Percy frowned and she shook her head. "Just... go get ready for school, honey. I love you."  
"Yeah, Mom," Percy sighed. "I love you, too." He scarfed down his pancakes as quickly as he could, hoping-PRAYING-that he'd eat fast enough to not be burdened with the displeasing sight of his stepfather.  
If he should be so lucky.  
Percy picked up his backpack from the ground as soon as he'd finished, and then looked into it. "You think I need more than two thingies of paper?"  
"You mean stacks of paper, hon?"  
"Er, yeah. That's what I said, right?"  
Sally smiled. "Right. Do you have a pencil?"  
"Yeah."  
"A pen?"  
"Yep."  
"Your coat?"  
"Yeah."  
"Tie?"  
"Mom... yeah."  
"Oh! Do you want the lunch I made you, or-"  
"Mom, seriously," Percy said, his cheeks burning. "I'm not twelve."  
Sally looked ashen by this. She looked down and replied, "I know, honey." She looked back at him and smiled, marvelling at him. "Gosh, you're taller than ME."  
He sighed. "I gotta go. I'll just... buy lunch, or whatever."  
She nodded. "I understand." She gestured away. "You go. I don't want you to be late."  
"Sure. Thanks, Mom."  
"I love you, Percy!"  
"I love you, Mom," he said, a little less enthusiastic this time. Was she EVER going to let him walk out the door?  
Sally grinned as he walked down the stairs to the door. "I love you a LOT."  
"Mom."  
"All, warm hugs, and butterflies, and-"  
"Mom!"  
"I just love you so much!" she said. "I can't believe my little boy is in the eleventh grade! You're almost a senior!"  
Percy nodded. "Yeah, Mom. I know."  
"Sally?" Gabe, Percy's stepfather, walked into the living room. "I told you to help me."  
Sally turned and politely said, "I know, sweetie. I'm just helping Percy while he goes to school. He's in the eleventh grade, all grown up."  
Gabe looked at Percy, scowling. Percy scowled right back. With Gabe's terrible smell, Percy had grown accustomed to called him "Smelly Gabe" from a young age. It was so terrible-like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts. Gabe had been nice for the first thirty seconds the Jacksons had known him, and had shown his true colors as a world-class jerk shortly after. Percy, after age eleven, had made it his personal goal to get Gabe out of their lives for good. He begged his mother constantly as soon as he realized how terrible Gabe actually treated her, and had volunteered himself to get into several arguments with his stepfather. He didn't care if he got mentally scarred by arguments-he just hated it when Sally got stuck in the crossfire.  
"He's not that grown up," Gabe said critically. "Still looks like a little scamming punk t'me."  
"Have a wonderful day," Percy said sarcastically, giving Gabe a fake smile. He wasn't in the mood to get into a fight, and Sally was standing right there, anyway, so she'd be one-hundred-percent ready to "calm the currents." That is to say, cool their tempers.  
Sally was always the peace-maker during their fights, and sometimes, if Percy was honest about it(which was rare), he could tell her that it was really, really annoying. Because she didn't deserve to be treated the way he did-bossing her around, yelling at her abruptly... If Percy was being honest (yet again: rare) he would be able to tell his mother that she was the most wonderful person he'd ever known; and then he'd be able to tell her how Gabe didn't deserve her, and how she should be treated like a queen instead of the way he treated her.  
"I love you, Percy. Have a wonderful-"  
Percy slammed the door behind him angrily, automatically feeling terrible for it. He hadn't realized Sally had been about to...  
Sighing, Percy shook off his angered feelings. He had to keep his anger in control, otherwise they'd have another fight after school, and he'd be in a pissed-off mood all day. No, he wanted his first day to-for once-go well. He was NOT going to get kicked out of this school. No, he definitely was not.  
Percy started jogging, sweating by the time he was halfway down the block. Manhattan was a big city, with not that many schools in some areas, but Percy's neighborhood on the Upper East Side had a private school just three blocks away-walking distance. It would've been perfectly, really, for years, if not for the tiny fact that that Goode High School costed more than Sally Jackson earned in a year's worth of pay.  
About two months earlier, Sally had sat Percy down in his bedroom, while Gabe was in the living room playing poker with Eddie the superintendent of the building and a bunch of his other buddies. Sally told Percy to pack a bag, and he did, completely and utterly confused. Was his mom leaving, or something? Were they actually leaving Smelly Gabe? Had the wonderful moment he'd been waiting for ACTUALLY come?  
But, no. Instead, Sally gave him a different kind of sudden surprise. "We're going to the beach," she had told him.  
Percy felt all of his worries leave as soon as she'd said that. "Montauk?" he'd asked.  
The beach in Montauk was special for the two of them. Not only had it been Percy's favorite place because of the blue-marshmallow s'mores and the happy smile they both had on their faces when they were there (not to mention the absence of a certain Smelly Gabe), but it was special because it was the place where Sally had met Percy's father.  
For the last few summers, Percy and Sally had been deprived of the chance of going to Montauk Beach. What once used to be a happy summer-time occasion turned into a distant memory, because Gabe claimed that he couldn't "afford" it. So, that summer had been one of the happiest of Percy's life. For the first time in years, he got to sit at a campfire and be alone with his mom, staring out at the rolling waves, watching as his mother thought about the love of her life-the unnamed man Percy realized he'd never actually gotten the name of. He didn't ask, but it nagged him after that summer, to know he didn't know the name of his own father.  
His thoughts about his father had been disrupted that summer, because Sally had suddenly said, "We found you a new school."  
By "we," Percy knew she had meant "I." Smelly Gabe didn't give a damn about Percy or what schools he went to; just as long as they didn't cost him much.  
"Which one this time?"

"Goode High."  
Percy's jaw had dropped. "Goode?" he repeated. "As in, the crazy-expensive private school for snobby kids? You're kidding me, right? I thought we couldn't afford that."  
Sally had smiled. "It took a little convincing, but Gabe finally gave in once I explained to him the new circumstances."  
"Circumstances?"  
"I got a raise at work," Sally said. "Double-shift, but... it'll be worth it to see you enrolled." She'd smiled, run her hands through his hair, and sighed. "My little baby, all grown up. Your father would be so proud of you, you know that?"  
And so, there was Percy. Two months later, in the beginning of September, sweating because of the stupid private school's uniform. A UNIFORM. Percy Jackson... was wearing a tie. In public.  
"Oh, god, I'm taking this off the SECOND I get there," Percy said, pulling furiously at the tie.  
A voice behind him, playful yet cynical, said, "You're tellin' me."  
Percy turned around to see a boy with crutches. He wore the same orange-and-black private school uniform, and he was walking from the same direction Percy was coming from. He was probably a twelfth grader, or something, because he had this furry goatee-looking beard. He wore a brightly-colored Rasta cap with his uniform, and he had a funny smile on his face. "Hi. I'm Grover."  
Percy watched Grover for a moment, as he wobbled over to Percy with a funny stance. "Uh, Percy. Jackson," he said, trying not to stare.  
Grover sighed at Percy. "I have a condition," he said. He shrugged. "My best friend's other best friend-totally terrifying-is a jerk, he's really into sports and he's big and tall and he thinks I'm small... anyway, it gets me into bad situations, not just with random people. That and I never shut up."  
"I don't care," Percy said, shrugging. Because, honestly, he didn't think it mattered. He felt crippled himself, to not be able to get past having his stepfather in life. He couldn't have friends at the apartment (not that he'd want them to meet Smelly Gabe, though), he had to stay shut-up in his room, and he had a constant reminder of being unhappy all the time. And he knew a thing or two about not being able to shut up.  
"Yeah," Grover said, sighing. "What teachers do you have? I haven't seen you before. Are you on the west side of the school? Is that why? I'm east."  
"Oh... no, I'm east," Percy explained. "I just got enrolled. It's my first day at Goode."  
Grover jumped. "First day? No way! My friend, Rachel, she just enrolled here, too! She was at this finishing school for girls, but now she's back after she made a bargain with her dad." He grinned. "She's a conniving little redhead."  
Percy smirked. "I like girls who can con," he said, teasingly.  
Grover raised his eyebrows. "You..." He grinned. "Yeah." He nodded to Percy. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to the guys." He paused. "Well, the 'gang,' I guess, because they're not all guys. There's just me and Tyson and Frank and then-"  
"Grover, you know how you said you don't know how to shut up?"  
"Uh, yeah?"  
"Shut up."  
Grover laughed. "Yeah, you'll DEFINITELY get along well with Rachel."  
Percy didn't really know what that meant, but he shrugged and walked alongside Grover. For a kid on crutches in the middle of New York City, Grover was pretty quick. Percy had to stop at one point to keep his stuff from falling out of his beat-up backpack, and actually had to jog to catch up to Grover.  
"Damn, you're fast," Percy said, huffing and puffing. They finally made it to the school's immaculate courtyard, complete with orange banners reading "GO OLYMPIAN EAGLES!" and "WELCOME BACK!" "Er, sorry," Grover said awkwardly. "Habit. Tyson's fast and he's, um... complicated to keep up with."  
Yet again, that wasn't something Percy really understood. "Hey," Percy said, pulling out his school schedule from his pocket. "I already got the free orientation-thing, like, last month, but, uh... where the hell do I go for Latin class?"  
"Who do you have?"  
Percy stared at the paper, then looked up uncomfortably at Grover. "Uh, sorry. I have dyslexia."  
Grover's shrugged. "Okay." He took the paper from Percy. "Oh! You have Chiron! That's awesome!"  
"Chiron?" Percy repeated, still dumbstruck. Grover hadn't stared at him and asked him a million, penetrating questions about his dyslexia. That didn't happen often.  
"Oh. Well, Mr. Brunner. We all call him Chiron because his class pretty much saves most of us from not graduating," Grover explained. "Trainer of heroes? Get it?" "Oh... yeah," Percy said, "I guess that makes sense."  
"Trust me," Grover said. "It will, once you get to know him." He paused and looked at Percy's schedule more clearly. He winced. "Agh, you got Dionysus, too."  
"Who?"  
"Mr. D."  
Percy frowned. "What's with the Greek mythology references, man?" he asked.  
Grover said, "Goode's mascot is the Olympian Eagle, with thunderbolts, the whole thing." He rolled his eyes. "We all just took up the 'school spirit' and started calling our teachers random stuff. Mr. Brunner, he's Chiron. Mr. D, is Dionysus. He's a drunk, and he's somehow a teacher here-I really don't know how the hell he pulled THAT off... and he's terrifying." Grover looked like he was going to start crying. "He yelled at me once because I was too slow to walk across the room."  
"He sounds like my stepdad," Percy mumbled.  
Grover's head shot up. "What?"  
"Nothing," Percy said. Grover had REALLY good hearing. He'd have to remember that before he muttered something he'd regret. "Uh, anything else I should know?"  
"You have Mrs. Gardener for science. She's Demeter. Oh, and there's a student on campus who's the daughter of a math professor, but, uh, I doubt you'll meet her. She's a sweet girl, but she's CRAZY smart. Everyone calls her Athena, but she totally hates it, so I just call her by her first name."  
Before Percy could ask more, a sudden voice behind the two of them caused them to turn towards the basketball court out behind the school. "Hey, goat-boy!" a girl's voice shouted. "You up for some hoops?"  
Grover's face turned red. He looked at Percy, who was prepared to start yelling at the girl for being a jerk, and laughed, shaking his head. "Shut up, Thalia Grace!" he shouted back. He looked at Percy. "C'mon. Time to meet the guys. Gang. Whatever."  
Grover led Percy down to the basketball court, where he was met with the most peculiar group he had ever seen.  
On top of Grover with his physical disability, there was a severely large kid wearing a football jersey by the basketball hoop. No, he wasn't just standing by the hoop. He was CLIMBING the hoop, at least attempting to. He had messy brown hair, was very broad-shouldered, and he wore the same uniform as the other boys; only, he wasn't wearing his tie like he was supposed to be.  
A girl at the bottom of the hoop, with straight red hair and red-rimmed glasses, was sitting with her legs tucked into her chest, a book in her hands, laughing uncontrollably. She wasn't looking at the book, more at the boy above her, who was obviously showing off for her. He leaned down once he was at the top of the hoop and poked her on the head, causing her to giggle and swat at his hands playfully.  
There were a bunch of picnic tables in the courtyard, and two of the tables were occupied. At one table, two girls who looked like each other's polar opposites were seated together. One of the girls had dark black hair, cut short to be spiky and all over the place. She wore a black leather jacket, ripped jeans, and wore a black t-shirt, showing Barbie with an arrow through her head. She wore a white-and-black bracelet that said, "ANGEL" and another camouflage-colored bracelet on the same arm that read "HUNTER." She looked intimidating at first glance, but the smile on her face made Percy's worries melt away. He felt like she was a girl he could trust, and the others around him seemed to feel that way too, despite looking so different from them.  
The other girl didn't look like a punk-girl. No, she had bright, frizzy, curly red hair that stuck out. She wore the school uniform, but her white stockings had holes and lead stains in them, like she poked them for fun with pencils. Her face was freckled, and her bright green eyes sparkled as she laughed.  
Then, at the other table, a boy with military-cut black hair sat with his head buried in a book. Percy couldn't really see the book, but he could tell it was about the military, or something like that, because he was pretty sure he spotted a few pictures of a bow and quiver. He wore a light blue sweater, and when he turned around, Percy realized that he looked way too big for his own comfort. Like a... baby sumo wrestler.  
Thalia looked away from the redheaded girl to Percy, and inspected him from head-to-toe. "Who's this dork?"  
"Thalia, we're ALL dorks," Redhead said, smiling brightly. She shrugged. "Give 'em a chance."  
Percy and Thalia both looked at each other, apparently having the same reaction. They didn't know how to read each other, and Percy had a feeling Thalia wasn't going to be his best friend anytime soon. Fine, though. He was perfectly fine with that. "I'm Percy Jackson," he said, shifting his backpack on his shoulder. "Nice to meet 'ya."  
Thalia made a face, watching him closely, like a scientist might do to a bug under a microscope. Then she shrugged. "M'kay. I'm Thalia." She pointed to the redhead, then at Percy. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Percy Jackson. Percy, Rachel." She shooed Rachel away. "Now, go talk to your little dorky knight-in-dull-armor before I puke from how weird this is." She looked at Grover expectantly.  
"Seriously, though. Bringing in a new guy? What, is he some rich preppy guy in your chemistry class last year?"  
"Actually," Percy said, glaring at her. "This happens to be my first day in this school. And, no offense, but I don't need your judgment or your opinions."  
Thalia stared at him again, her mouth open. Then she grinned. "You're okay, kid."  
"Don't call me kid. I'm probably taller than you."  
"You kidding? I'm as tall as a tree!"  
"Yeah, well, trees can be cut down whenever they don't learn to shut up."  
"Aw, man, I LOVE this guy!" Thalia cried, looking at Grover. "Seriously, where'd you find him?"  
Grover's eyebrows were raised up. "Whoa," he said to Percy. "Nobody EVER gets along with her that fast. She's as stubborn as a mule-"  
"Right here!" Thalia cried, waving her arms dramatically. She rolled her eyes and gestured for the flirting kids at the basketball hoop to come over. "Guys, get your butts over here, Grover brought someone who's actually INTERESTING!"  
The boy and girl quickly scrambled over, giggling and elbowing each other. Thalia said, "Guys, meet Percy. Percy, meet guys."  
The boy gave Percy a whacky, friendly grin. "Tyson!" he said, putting out his hand. He looked at the girl next to him. "This is Ella. She is pretty."  
Ella blushed furiously. The boy at the other table laughed. "Smooth, Tyson," he said. "Real smooth."  
Tyson looked a little confused by that, and Percy couldn't help but laugh. "I'm Percy Jackson," he said, shaking Tyson's over-sized hand. "Nice to meet you and your girlfriend."  
Tyson's face turned bright red. "Ella's not my girlfriend," he said. He paused and looked at Ella. "Right?"  
Ella shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "Right..." She wouldn't meet his eyes.  
The boy at the other table, who'd called out Tyson for being obvious and had been reading the military book, walked over, taking his book with him. "Hi," he said. "I'm Frank."  
"Percy."  
Once the introductions were over, Percy glanced around the courtyard. "We early?" he asked.  
"About ten minutes, yeah," Thalia said. "Nobody shows up until five minutes before, except for us. We just hang out here, for about an hour before school starts."  
Frank suddenly looked over at her. "Hey, where's your little brother?"  
"Jason?" Thalia said. She rolled her eyes. "Probably with Reyna. They had a last-day-of-summer party, or something. I dunno, he's not really a dork, so I don't know how to keep up with his social life, really."  
"Your brother's girlfriend?" Percy said.  
"If that was even your business..." she started. She sighed and stopped herself. "No. But he's pretty much the only one who doesn't know she wants to be. No, she's best friends with him. He has a girlfriend named Piper. She's totally sweet, totally pretty, totally amazing." She smirked at Grover. "Poor little R.A.R.A."  
"R.A.R.A.?" Percy repeated.  
Grover rolled his eyes. "I said it ONE time..." he muttered. He looked at Percy, reluctantly explaining. "Reyna's name. Her initials spell out R.A.R.A., and when we first met I blurted it out. They've been teasing me about it ever since."  
Rachel grinned at Percy's confused expression. "You regretting talking to us?" she asked teasingly, but with an edge to her voice.  
"Not at all," Percy said, telling the truth. He was actually thankful that someone had bothered to talk to him, and now he was suddenly being bombarded with a bunch of other kids who were possibly his friends now. This was great!  
Rachel actually smiled at that. "Well, welcome to Goode, I guess." She shrugged. "My first day, too. Sort of. I stopped going here two years ago, but I'm back!" She grinned at Thalia, who smirked.  
"Thank god you did," Thalia said. "I don't think any of us would've been able to survive another year without you. And I'm not sure that finishing school would've been able to survive WITH you."  
Percy's eyebrows shot up. "You were in finishing school?" he asked, staring at Rachel.  
She laughed. "You look pretty damn surprised."  
"Er, sorry, just-"  
"Nah, I get it all the time," Rachel said, shrugging it off with a giggle. "It's cool. So, where're you from, Percy Jackson?"  
Percy laughed. "Here, actually. I've lived on the Upper East Side for my whole life."  
Frank frowned. "Then how come we've never met you before?"  
"Uh..." Percy shrugged awkwardly. "I've been kicked out of every other school my mother could think of... uh... And she just decided to enroll me here, 'cause she got a raise and just could. But, uh, I used to be a student at Yancy's Academy, last year." He sighed. "I got kicked out for shoving this annoying girl into the water fountain, but she was picking on my friend. I've had the uncanny ability to get myself into trouble from day one."  
"Oh, yeah?" Thalia asked. "How so?"  
"When I was younger, I sort of hit the wrong lever while my class was on a field trip, in the aquarium. My class took a, er, unplanned swim..." He blushed, realizing they were laughing. "I didn't mind it, I like the water. But, um, that got me suspended. And once I had this mishap with this Revolutionary War canon. I wasn't AIMING for the bus, but of course I got expelled anyway."  
Rachel's jaw dropped. "Er, how do you have a 'mishap' with a-"  
"Oh, god, do NOT ask."  
She laughed, and they all looked at the front of the school building, spotting a bunch of students starting to go by the building. "Oh, look! Here come the people."  
A flood of students came into the courtyard, and Percy suddenly began to grasp just how huge the student body was. "That's a lot of kids," he said, trying not to sound nervous. He didn't like it when people realized he was nervous.  
"We will take you to class," Tyson said, elbowing Percy with a bright smile.  
Percy smiled back. "Thanks, man."  
Thala smirked. "Did you say you like swimming?" to Percy. He nodded. "Maybe you should join the swimming team."  
Percy raised his eyebrows. "This school has a swimming team?"  
"And an indoor pool!" Tyson said, nodding. "I'm on the team."  
Percy was suddenly very, very thankful Tyson had talked before he'd been able to insult the idea of a swimming team. "Oh, that's cool." He looked at Thalia. "And, no. I have this thing with people watching me, and I'd feel a lot better if I wasn't being stared at for being the slowest swimmer, thank you very much."  
"Awwww, is Percy scared?" Thalia asked, grinning.  
"No," Percy said.  
"Shy?" Rachel asked, smirking, too.  
"No!" Percy said. "I just don't want to be embarrassed by that! I don't like swimming in front of people."  
"Why?"  
He shrugged, the explanation rushing out before he could even stop it: "I only swim when I'm at Montauk Beach with my mom, and she practically cries every time because she keeps thinking about my dad, okay?" He stopped and mentally slapped himself. "Whatever, never mind-"  
Thalia grimaced. "Your dad walk out on your mom, too?"  
Percy gaped at her. "Uh, no. He was... He had a boat. Lost at sea."  
"Oh," Thalia said, her eyes sad. She shrugged. "Frank gets it, too." She looked over. "Don't you, Mr. Zhang?"  
Frank sighed. "My mom met my dad in Afghanistan," he explained. "She was a soldier, and so was he. I live with my grandmother now, for about a year now."  
"Well, MY dad was a no-good ass," Thalia said, breaking the sad tension. "He left my mother, she had me, and he came back, she had my brother, and then he had the nerve to leave us again. When I was a freakin' three year old. Mom went nuts, she was an alcoholic before I grabbed my brother, and we booked a few years ago. I had a our cousins take us in for a while, Bianca understands being on her own with a little brother."  
"Oh..." Percy said slowly.  
Thalia frowned. "This isn't something I really talk about, but, um, we get it. The whole screwed-up family thing. It's sort of what brought us together. Right, guys?"  
Percy looked at Grover, who nodded. "My dad and Uncle Ferdinand went missing a while ago. We don't really know what happened to them... My granny's worried sick still, barely gets that they're not coming back."  
Tyson said, "No parents."  
"Ella, too," Ella said. "Ella has no parents, too." She smiled at Tyson. "Tyson and Ella take care of each other."  
"Tyson and Ella take care of each other," Tyson agreed, smiling back at her with pride.  
"...Why are they talking about each other in the third person?" Frank asked, just as confused as the others.  
Percy laughed a bit, smiling at them. "Thanks," he said slowly. "But... I'm still not joining that swim team."  
"Why not?" Rachel asked. She grinned and winked. "You might look cute in the uniform."  
He snorted. "Yeah. RIGHT. I can barely stand THIS uniform," he said, gesturing to the suit and tie, "How're you gonna get me into a swimming one, in front of people? Ha. I don't think so." He paused, suddenly going over what Rachel had said in his head.  
They all stood there, silent now, with nothing more to say.  
"Well," Grover said, realizing how awkward things had gotten from their silence. "Now that that's covered. Who's walking Percy to his next class?" Nobody spoke up. Grover scowled. "Are you guys REALLY going to make the cripple walk the new kid around the building? REALLY?"  
Percy jumped. "You don't have to walk me!" he said. "I can find my own way." He laughed nervously. "I have a good sense of direction... sort of." He shrugged, awkward and self-conscious. "I'll be fine. It's okay-"  
"Are you sure, Percy?" Rachel asked. "'Cause I can-"  
"It's fine," he promised, shrugging. "Totally fine. Just... direct me in the... direction to go, please?" He held out his schedule to her.  
She giggled, which he didn't understand, but she took the paper and said, "You have Latin first. Chiron. Well, Brunner. It's-"  
"Grover already explained," Percy said, nodding. "I got it."  
Rachel nodded. "Great, you got the basics to how this school works." She closed her eyes and thought for a minute. "Okay. Soooo, Chiron is in the... Okay, you'll go to the left right after you go up one flight of stairs, and then he's the last room to the left." She looked at her friends for support. "Right?" They nodded in agreement. "See? You'll be fine."   
Percy nodded. "Those directions sound easy enough," he said. "I'll get there."   
"Awesome," Thalia said, standing up. She stretched and then picked up her black backpack from the bottom of the table. "Now..." She looked at her friends. "Let's go on the amazing journey to homeroom!"


	2. You Drool When You Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy meets a strange girl named Annabeth Chase, and strange events occur from their meeting...

The 'amazing journey to homeroom,' as Thalia put it, was not amazing for Percy. It wasn't as easy as he made it out to be, because, if he was honest (rarely), he had an absolutely terrible sense of direction. That, and he was ADHD, so he couldn't remember a thing like directions to save his life.

He passed a few kids scurrying to their homeroom classes, completely ignoring him. He saw one girl, with glossed lips and flawless hair and makeup, run up to a boy, nearly shoving Percy out of the double-doors to get to her friend, and say, "Oh, hon! Wait for me!"  
He was almost stampeded on his way up the stairs, because he'd mistakenly taking the stairs labeled "down." He had to make a quick double-take, then running up the other side of the steps. "Can you-" he started to ask someone who passed him, but they only walked past like he was annoying them. What was this this school and having just a FEW cool people?  
Finally, when Percy was getting tired of being trampled, he grabbed the arm of a tall girl with curled blond hair who passed him. The minute did so, he was met with a scowl, and he regretted his abrupt decision. The girl didn't say anything, though. She just glared at him with impossibly misty, gray, slightly entrancing gray eyes. Percy tried not to stop breathing from that scowl. Mixed with how pretty the girl was and how intense her stare was, he didn't know how to react.  
As it turned out, he didn't need to react at all, because suddenly there was a hand shoving him back against the wall, and a very angry, very tall kid with sandy-blond hair, was giving him a death-glare. "Don't touch my friend," he said venomously.  
Percy's mouth opened. The scar on the boy's eye that stretched down to his lip made him look as intimidating as the Underworld itself, and he was having trouble with getting out a word. "Uh-I-I was..." He shook his head. "Sorry."  
The boy frowned, looking less threatening once realizing Percy wasn't threatening, either. "Um. Sorry, I guess. But you shouldn't grab people like that."  
"I was kind of tired of people shoving me and ignoring me," Percy said slowly. "Sorry..." He sighed. "I do impulsive stuff, it's... really bad and annoying. Sorry," he said again.  
The boy looked surprised. "Uh, okay." He looked at the girl, who still looked pissed off, and then back at Percy. He put out a hand. "I'm Luke Castellan."  
Percy gulped. "I'm-"  
The bell suddenly rang, and the girls' eyes widened. She poked the boy, and he nodded. "Yeah, yeah, Athena," he said, grinning at her. "I get it, we wouldn't want to stain your oh-so-perfect permanent record, now, would we?"  
She rolled her eyes but smiled, and Percy felt uncomfortable by the kind smile she gave him. It was even more awkward when she seemed to remember Percy was there and then started frowning at him again.  
Percy took a deep breath. This journey to homeroom was definitely NOT amazing. He'd have to tell Thalia all about it later, and yell at her for jinxing it. "Could you please tell me how to get to Mr. Brunner's class?" he asked. "I'm sort of lost."  
Luke said, "Awesome! Athena's-"  
The girl elbowed him and glared, but then he laughed, causing her to smile just a little bit. With a twist in his gut, Percy realized that this girl SO had a thing for Luke. It was strange enough, in this awkward situation, but now he had to go and get himself in trouble with a girl who had a boyfriend who was prepared to defend her? Great work on making friends, Jackson. Just GREAT.  
Luke gestured to Percy. "Please?"  
The girl sighed reluctantly and then grabbed Percy's shoulders. With a yelp, he was being dragged down the hallway, to the left of the staircase, and to the left of the next hall. She didn't say a word to him, which he felt a little pissed by. The least she could do was accept his apology. He decided to try again. Maybe she hadn't understood.  
"Sorry I grabbed you like that," Percy said. She didn't say anything, just led him into the back of the classroom, turned around to scowl at him again, and then shoved him down into the first seat in the back of the room. "Whoa!" he said.  
The girl rolled her eyes and started to leave, but Percy said, "Wait, I'm serious. I'm sorry. Look, I do stupid stuff, okay? I got ADHD, I wasn't thinking. I know that's not really an excuse, but... it's not easy, okay? I said I was sorry, and if you're going to be a bitch about it, well, fine, but-"  
The girl turned around. She made a face at him, and he shrugged. "I got ADHD," he repeated.  
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.  
"You got a problem with that?" he demanded, crossing his arms.  
She scowled, looking unimpressed. Then, after Percy (surprisingly) winning a staring-contest, with her, she sighed and pointed to herself, shrugging.  
He blinked at her. "You got ADHD, too?" he asked, confused. She nodded. "Um, no offense, but... why don't you just talk?" She scowled, suddenly annoyed now, and then turned around, heading to the front of the room, ignoring him again. "Hey, wh-Ugh, just forget it!" Percy said angrily.  
He buried his face in his hands, embarrassed. This had to be one of the stupidest situations he'd gotten himself into by far. And he had done a LOT of stupid things in his life.  
By the time Percy was done yelling at himself for being an idiot, an old man in a wheelchair pulled himself up to the front of the classroom. He wore a frayed tweed jacket, he had thinning brown hair, and he had a jolly smile. "Hello, eleventh graders," the man said. "I'm Mr. Brunner, your Latin teacher for this year. Now, if you'll all stand up, I'm going to put you in your seats according to alphabetical order-"  
"Uggghhhh!" just about every student in the class complained. Especially Percy. If Mr. Brunner took role call, then everyone in the class would hear his full name. Then they'd NEVER stop laughing at him.  
In the end, the class picked up their backpacks and moved to the back of the room. Percy stood as far away from the girl who'd decided to hate him, and she seemed okay with that. She shuffled forward after a name was called, a name Percy hadn't thought had existed until that day.  
"Annabeth Chase," Mr. Brunner said.  
The blond girl walked forward, to the fifth seat in the first row. Percy got a good look at her, watching her blond princess curls bob as she walked. She didn't wear any makeup, and the school uniform wasn't exactly flattering, but she looked pretty anyway. She had a earrings in the shape of owls, and a necklace that matched.  
After a while, Mr. Brunner was up to the seat that was the first in the next row, just a few seats from Annabeth's. "P... Perseus?" he asked, looking up, his eyebrows raised. "Perseus Jackson?"  
Percy sighed as he heard the chorus of amused snickers at the name. He picked up his backpack, shot a glare or two over his shoulder, and plopped down in his new seat. He looked back at the girl, Annabeth, was it? She stared back at him, more curious than annoyed now. He frowned at that, not wanting to be in someone's interest just so they could dissect him for information. He turned around to look at Mr. Brunner, who caught him off guard by saying:  
"Welcome to Goode, Mr. Jackson. I take it you've met Miss Chase?" He looked at Annabeth, who was staring at Percy.  
Percy looked at Annabeth, then back at Mr. Brunner. "Um. Thanks. And yeah... We've met."  
Annabeth was shaking her head, at Mr. Brunner, some kind of a frantic plea. He said what she seemed to dread anyway, "You two have a lot in common, you should to talk to each other often. You'll get along well." Then he moved on to the next person to seat.  
Percy wanted to laugh. A lot in common? With the girl who had a boyfriend, had blond hair and a pretty smile, was determined to scowl at him like he'd drowned her brother in a lake, and seemed to be friends with the teacher? How could they POSSIBLY have anything in common with each other? And, get along well? HA.  
"Thanks, Chiron," Percy heard Annabeth mutter sarcastically. "Just thanks..."  
For the whole period, Percy tried not to turn back to look at Annabeth. It was just too embarrassing. Mr. Brunner started lecturing the class, walking to the end of the room, going over what NOT to do in class, and what makes a star student.  
"As expected in your last eleven years of school," he dragged on. "You will treat the others in class with respect, blah, blah, blah, you all know how this first-day-of-school speech goes. During the first semester of the school year, I will be assigning projects, both individual and partnered, to understand both what you know about the subject of Latin, and to help you understand the concept of this class. Furthermore..."  
Percy had a feeling Mr. Brunner didn't mean to be boring. He wanted to be able to sit back and listen to Mr. Brunner talk for the whole period. But sitting in a classroom and listening to a teacher talk isn't exactly the best way to keep a kid with ADHD occupied.  
And that's how Percy fell asleep during his first day of Latin class.  
It wasn't really a short snooze. It lasted through the whole period, until he heard the bell ring behind him. He stirred, realizing-Oh my god, I just slept through that whole lesson!-and feeling an arm on his shoulder. It was Mr. Brunner.  
"I am SO sorry," Percy rushed out. "I-I don't normally-I mean, I won't-"  
Mr. Brunner shook his head. "I understand, Perseus. On Annabeth's first day of my class two years ago, she went up to my desk and outright told me to stop talking so much." He smiled fondly. "She was the only student back then who knew how to tell me to shut up, as you'd say."  
Percy laughed, remembering Annabeth had said she had ADHD, too. "That's cool. It won't happen again. I promise."  
Mr. Brunner looked behind Percy, and he winced, realizing that Annabeth must be behind him, because Brunner said, "Annabeth? Could you please take Perseus to his next class? Great! Thank you. Now that that's been settled..."  
Percy looked up at Brunner, sighing. "Please just call me Perseus?"  
Mr. Brunner smiled. "Of course, Percy. Have a nice day, you two." He wheeled himself back to his desk.  
Percy turned around to face Annabeth. She looked pretty, in a California-girl kind of way. She gave him a frown, and he didn't know what to do, so he just sat there uncomfortably. "So," he said.  
Annabeth stared at him, her startling gray eyes seeming to bore into his very soul. She opened his mouth, and when she spoke, Percy got five words he wouldn't have ever figured she'd say to him, not in a million years.  
"You drool when you sleep."

Percy walked into the cafeteria at eighth period, his stomach growling mercilessly. He stared at the huge cafeteria, wondering how the hell he'd survive a year of what was before him.  
Over a hundred bustling students in a gigantic room-filled to the max with small cafes, a counter with soda and pizza available, and just about everything you could think of in the huge cafeteria. Most kids were outside, due to the early-September warmth, and Percy couldn't wait to get outside.  
"Percy!" a voice said. A voice so thrilled to see him, Percy thought Smelly Gabe would've laughed hysterically by the sheer irony of it, had he been there to hear.  
Percy looked by the entrance to the courtyard to see Tyson standing in the doorway, with his usual, wide grin on his face. "Hey, Tyson," he said, smiling politely. "I'm gonna get somethin', if you don't mind, then I'll come over. Okay?"  
"Okay," Tyson agreed eagerly. "Leo and I will be over here. Leo is funny and small."  
A voice behind Tyson said, "Oh, thanks. Wait... HEY!"  
Percy laughed, shook his head, and then headed down to the line with his wallet. He was stopped abruptly by a girl who was about his height, wearing a wore a bandanna over light, stringy brown hair, and her sneer was obnoxious and hard to miss. She wore the school uniform, but she wore red sneakers instead of the flats girls were supposed to wear. She gave Percy a once-over and then scowled at him, apparently deciding he wasn't worth her time.  
"Who're you?" she demanded.  
"Percy," he said, like an idiot. He was being an idiot a LOT today.  
The girl sneered. "Are you new here, or somethin'?"  
Yet again, like an idiot, he nodded and said, "Yeah. I am."  
The girl grinned. "We have an initiation for new kids, you know," she said.  
Percy frowned at her. "I don't-"  
"Clarisse," Percy jumped from the sound of Annabeth's voice behind him. Was that girl EVERYWHERE? "Back off."  
Annabeth's hands were on her hips. Despite having only said five words to Percy since they'd met, she seemed okay with defending him from a bully, and Percy was thankful. But he didn't want her thinking he couldn't handle it himself.  
"Sure, Miss Princess," Clarisse said. "Protect your little boyfriend." She sneered again. "Won't Luke get jealous? His little girlfriend is going for another boy." She turned around to look at a boy behind her, who was just a big and ugly as mean-looking as she was. There were two other kids like that with her, and Percy didn't really like his and Annabeth's chances.  
Annabeth rolled her eyes, like she was tired of this. "You're not dunking his head in the toilet like a twelve year old, Clarisse."  
Clarisse looked at Percy, laughing. "Your damsel in distress seems mute, Princess," she teased. "When's he gonna open his trap?"  
Annabeth sighed. "Percy Jackson, meet Clarisse La Rue."  
Percy raised his eyebrows. "La Rue?" he repeated, trying not to smile. "Wow."  
Clarisse frowned. "You got a problem with that?" she demanded.  
Percy shrugged. "I just didn't know people had names that described them. Rueful, really, that we crossed paths. Can I go get my lunch now?"  
Annabeth and Clarisse were both silenced for a moment, apparently shocked he knew how to speak for himself. Then Clarisse's sneer was back. "Look who's talking, Prissy."  
"Percy."  
"Whatever. C'mon, I'll show you our initiation. Then you can get your little lunch."  
"Clarisse-" Annabeth started to say.  
"Stay out of it, wise girl."  
Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and he didn't really want her help. He was the new kid. His had to earn his own rep.  
He glared over at Clarisse, and before he could do anything to prepare myself, two of Clarisse's friends grabbed him. He struggled to get free, realizing that Annabeth had said something about dunking someone's head in the toilet. "Let me go," he told them.  
Suddenly Tyson was at Percy's side, glaring daggers at Clarisse. He had to be at least two inches taller than her, because he was probably three inches taller than Percy, and he looked terrifying with the look he was giving her. "Nobody hurts Percy," he said, shoving Clarisse's buddies off in one swipe. They stumbled back and bumped into Clarisse, who didn't fall, but almost did.  
Annabeth stared at Tyson, her mouth open. "Uh. Hi." She looked at Percy cautiously. "Friend of yours?"  
He blushed a little, which made him want to smack his head against a door repetitively. "Uh, Tyson, meet Annabeth. Annabeth, meet Tyson."  
Tyson gave her a killer smile. "Hello, Athena."  
Annabeth winced. "Um, hi..." she said, like she was tired of having this conversation already.  
Percy looked at her. "Wait," he said, smirking. "Athena? Like, the goddess of intelligence, or someth-"  
"She was the goddess of wisdom, smarty pants," Annabeth told me, her scowl directed right at me. "And they call me that because I'm 'smart,' which actually has nothing to do with Athena. She makes the logical decision about war and battle plans. Just because I know how to read and write and do math doesn't mean..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "Whatever. Call me Athena, do what you like." She sighed and looked at a table that was in the corner of the room, then back at him. "Bye, Percy." She started leaving.  
"Bye, Annabeth!" Percy said, making sure she heard the 'Annabeth' part.  
She actually turned around and gave him one of her pretty smiles when he did that, and then turned back to go to her table. Percy spotted Luke in the corner of the room, waiting for her, and got a bad feeling in his stomach. He stared at her, starting to goof off with him and their other friends, and then realized Tyson smiling at him. Embarrassed, he looked at his friend. "Er, I wasn't-"  
"Let's go meet Leo," Tyson said. He threw his fist in the air. "He brought PEANUT BUTTER!"  
He charged down the aisles of the cafeteria, outside to the courtyard like it was a very strange, very inspiring battle cry. Percy smiled to himself and then jogged to catch up.  
When he found the table Tyson was seated at, he found a few other kids there, too. A scrawny Spanish boy who resembled a Latino Santa's elf-complete with the pointy ears, impish face, and the tinkering habit-was tapping his hands and fingers on everything in sight. Either he'd had WAY too many cups of coffee this morning, or he had a thing or two in common with Percy, just in an even worse form of it. Always restless.  
There was a girl next to the Latino Santa's elf. She looked a LOT different than the boy; her eyes were absolutely beautiful, shifting like kaleidoscopes. Her hair was choppily cut in a small braid down her shoulder, and she wore no makeup, which Percy found strange for a girl. Her skin was tanned naturally, and she wore a snowboarding jacket instead of the blazer girls were supposed to wear. Apparently this girl didn't like bringing attention to herself. It didn't work at all, because she was seriously gorgeous, but she got an A-for-effort, Percy supposed.  
The boy next to the girl, who had his arm around her, looked like some kind of a blond Superman. His hair was tousled, a style Percy could say wasn't exactly like his own black hair because Percy's often looked how it did when he woke up in the morning, and he wore a purple t-shirt, jeans and a friendly smile. Still, there was something strange about the guy that made Percy feel off, like he shouldn't trust him completely. Percy decided to sit across from them, next to Tyson, just to be safe.  
The girl gave Percy a charming, drop-dead-gorgeous smile. "Hi. I'm Piper! This is Jason and Leo." She pointed Blond Superman first, then at the Santa's elf boy. "You're Percy, right?"  
"Er, yeah," he said, sitting down awkwardly. "I'm Percy."  
Leo said, "I thought I heard a bunch of guys laughing about your name being-"  
"Leo!" Jason and Piper both cried, frowning at him.  
Leo looked up finally, his face a little red. "Uh, did I say something wrong?"  
Piper sighed. "You can't just say that to people, if people are LAUGHING at someone."  
"Sorry, Beauty Queen."  
"Don't call me that, for the billionth time!"  
"Okay, Pipes."  
"Only my dad can call me that. You KNOW that."  
Leo seemed to be running out of names. "Drop-Dead-Beauty Queen?"  
"Leo."  
He sighed, frowning at her. "You don't like ANY of my nicknames for you." He pointed at Jason. "You liked my name for HIM."  
"I didn't," Jason said.  
"Nobody likes the names I make for them," Leo insisted, frowning. He looked at Percy, then pointed at him. "See, he'd be, like..." He paused, staring down Percy. "Wait, who are you?"  
Piper groaned. "LEO."  
Jason laughed and looked at Percy. "Hey, d'you do any sports?" he asked. "I'm a football guy."  
"Uhhhh, NO," Percy said. "Well, unless you count skateboarding-"  
"I like skateboarding!" Tyson cried, grinning at Percy.  
Percy laughed. "Really? That's awesome!"  
Tyson smiled wide. "I will be right back." Then he glared in Leo's direction. "I'm getting peanut butter."  
Percy looked at Leo, who was laughing hysterically for some reason, and then looked at Jason. "I also like to play basketball, but, uh, I don't do clubs or sports teams. They're just not my thing."  
"Commitment issues?" Leo asked, smirking. "I got 'em, too."  
"Er, no," Percy said. Truthfully, he never went to clubs because he thought it was a waste of time. He was always being kicked out of schools, and in a school that's just a short walk from home, he could be spending valuable time helping his mother rather than doing clubs he didn't need to do. "I just... don't have time, I guess."  
"Thalia said you like swimming," Jason said, trying to be nonchalant.  
Percy did a double-take. "Wait. You know THALIA?" Compared to the other girl, Jason seemed like her opposite; she was dark, whereas he looked like a role model. He was outgoing, while she liked to tell people to shut up often.  
"She's my big sister."  
Percy blinked. "Uh... Well, no offense, but, um... I did NOT see that coming."  
"I totally get it," Jason replied, nodding with a laugh. "We all have siblings we're ashamed of." He glanced at Piper. "Well, us at least. Leo... not really."  
Piper groaned. "My sister's over there," she said, gesturing to a group of girls huddled around each other. "She's older, my half-sister. And she's a demonic tyrant in girly-Barbie form." She said 'girly' like it made her want to puke. Percy could get used to this girl.  
Percy stared at the table. That's when he recognized the girl who'd shoved him in the hall earlier today, who'd been calling everyone 'hon.' He stared until she made eye contact, glaring and starting to walk over.  
Piper jumped. "Is she-She is NOT-Oh, god, she IS? I thought we had a mutual agreement not to ever-"  
"Oh, Piper, hon!" the girl said, strutting over. Her hips swaying, her face radiating with a warm glow that didn't match her attitude, and her eyes shadowed with perfect makeup; she looked like a super-model. She wore high heels, and she somehow made even her school uniform look glamorous. She went to the table, leaning her arms against the table, facing Piper, still standing. "Who's the new cutie, over here?" She looked over at Percy and looked at him from head to toe, calculating. Apparently she decided he was worth her time, because she then batted her eyelashes.  
Percy tried not to hyperventilate. "Uh..." He gulped.  
Leo huffed. Percy thought he heard him mutter something about 'playing hard-to-get.' He wasn't really sure. All he could think about was this beautiful girl, for some reason talking about HIM.  
Piper rolled her eyes. "Percy, meet my sister. Drew Tanaka." She scowled at her sister, unamused. "This is Percy Jackson. And don't you dare to do that little I'm-so-perfect act with him. He's my friend. I thought we had a let's-ignore-each-other thing going? Trying to hit on my friends isn't ignoring me, Drew."  
Drew pursed her glossy lips. "Aw, hon," she said, sighing. "You think you have friends. That's cute."  
Piper sighed exasperatedly. "Go back to your stupid eleventh-grade-president side of the room, please? We're trying to talk."  
Drew looked at Jason and Percy. "Only if the BOYS say they want me to leave..." She made a pouty face, smiling underneath it.  
Jason looked uncomfortable when she put a hand on his shoulder. "Uh, sorry, Drew," he said. "Just go hang out with your friends. You two're always arguing; you're better off separated."  
Drew scowled at Piper, who smiled triumphantly. Then Drew looked at Percy. "Well, sweetie?" She leaned down, just a few inches from his face. "You want me to leave? You could come with."  
"Uh..." Percy gulped. He wasn't used to being talked to by girls. Especially pretty ones. So, he just did the smart thing (for the first time that day), and said, "Sorry, Drew. I'm staying here."  
Her expression went cold. "Don't be sorry, hon," she shrugged. She winked. "I'll always be back."  
She started to leave, but then turned and glared at Leo, who squeaked in surprise. He didn't seem used to her acknowledging him. "Oh, and Elf-Boy?" she asked. "Yeah. You. Tell your brother to back off my friend?" She smiled. "Thanks, hon." Then she turned and left us, going to her table filled with other girls and guys.  
Piper and Jason turned to Leo. "What was that about?" They looked just as bewildered and confused as he was.  
Leo shrugged. "As far as I know, my brother has absolutely nothing to do with any of Drew's friends. At all." He paused. Suddenly his jaw dropped. "Oh god."  
"What?" Percy asked. "You have a brother?"  
"Stepbrother," Leo said. "His dad married my mom, but they... We're pretty much on our own. Well, I have a twin, but... Well, anyway!" He looked at Piper. "I was going to talk to you about Beckendorf, actually..."  
"Why me?"  
"Because I think my brother looking dazed from a date with a mystery-girl is your area of expertise, not mine, Beauty Queen," he replied.  
"Why is it MY area of expertise?"  
"Well, you're the only girl I know who lets me talk to you, so..."  
Piper scowled. "That is SO sexist, Leo." She rolled her eyes before he could answer. "Whatever. Was he just dazed, or was he freaking out?"  
Leo made a face. "He just looked... HAPPY. It was weird and uncomfortable. He kept smiling, the whole time."  
Percy frowned. "Your brother looking happy made you uncomfortable?"  
Jason sighed. "You don't know Beckendorf," he said. "He's huge and gruff and he's got this permanent scowl on his face." He turned to Leo. "He was SMILING? You think it was about a girl? You think...?" He glanced at Drew's table.  
Leo's eyes widened. "No WAY. Beckendorf might be ADHD, too, but he's not THAT impulsively crazy. He HATES those preppy, annoying girls-No WAY." He shook his head. "If there's one thing I know about my brother, it's that he'd never, ever talk about feelings, and that he'd never go for a girl who's obsessed with love and happiness and feelings." He snorted. "Honestly, Jason, could you actually picture Charlie with a girl like DREW?"  
Jason winced. "Yeah... I guess it was a bad idea."  
Piper didn't look convinced. "Are you sure, Leo?" she asked. "There are a bunch of girls from Drew's popular, student-council crowd, who're awesome. Like... Annabeth! She's cool, right?" She looked at Jason, who nodded. "She's friends with your sister-"  
"Annabeth?" Percy interrupted, his eyes widening. "What?"  
Leo's eyebrows shot up. He sighed. "Now THERE'S an impulsively crazy guy." He poked Percy on the shoulder. "Don't be nuts, dude. Annabeth's a smart, innocent girl. No offense, but you're kind of..."  
"A dork?"  
"I was gonna say 'as lame as me,' but that works, too."  
Percy paused. "Wait, you have ADHD, too?"  
Leo stared. "You have ADHD?" He jumped. "No way, me too, man!"  
"So does Annabeth," Percy blurted out, before he even thought about it.  
Piper grinned. "Awwww," she said. "You got it BAD."  
Percy scowled. "Shut up..."  
Jason laughed, leaning against his girlfriend. "I thought you said this wasn't your 'area of expertise'?"  
Piper blushed. "Uh... it's not." She shrugged. "I mean, I'm not DREW, or anything-Thank god..."  
"You're nothing like her," Percy promised. "Trust me. You're nice."  
She smiled. "Aw, Percy," she said, teasing. "You're gonna make me blush."  
Jason scowled. "Hey, that's my job." He turned and then kissed her, and she burst out laughing against him. "Are you laughing at me, McLean?" he asked, grinning. "You're LAUGHING at me? Man, I am SO hurt right now!"  
Piper giggled. "Jason, stop-"  
Leo turned to Percy and made a I'll-go-vomit-now gesture. "Sometimes I think it sucks to be the odd man out, and not able to talk to girls," he said. "But then I see them being all..." He pointed at them teasing and poking each other. "And then I remember: I don't LIKE being with girly-girls."  
"I am NOT g-Ah! Jason!" Piper squealed. Jason was starting to tickle her. "Hey-Ah! N-not in public, gosh!" She snorted out a laugh and then blushed, pushing him and covering her mouth, still laughing. "Oh, god, that was so embarrassing."  
Tyson walked back to the table. "What took you so long?" Leo asked. "I think Percy's getting tired of the Super-Sized McShizzle Man!"  
"Leo, you're weird," Jason blurted out.  
Leo grinned. "I get that a lot, surprisingly."   
Percy laughed with them, and as Tyson sat down, he couldn't help but notice that when Piper started a new conversation, she leaned forward to let Percy in on the secret.   
"Leo's got a crush on practically every girl in this school."   
"Yep, pretty much... HEY!"


End file.
